BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

U.K. biopharma COVID-19 fight gets closer to home with PM in ICU, death toll escalating

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April 7, 2020 12:38 AM UTC

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson now in the ICU, the urgency for answers to COVID-19 takes on a new dimension in the U.K., and the spotlight on its biopharmas to respond with countermeasures beyond physical distancing will inevitably grow.

Johnson, who tested positive on March 27, moved into St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, on Sunday evening. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been deputized to fill in for Johnson “where necessary,” according to a 10 Downing Street statement. Separately, on April 4, the Labour Party elected as leader Keir Starmer; he was Shadow Brexit secretary in former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet. ...